South Korea's Digital Infrastructure Crippled by Data Center Fire
A fire at South Korea's National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center in Daejeon on September 26 caused significant disruption to the country's digital infrastructure. The blaze, likely sparked by a faulty lithium-ion battery, affected 647 administrative systems, including the e-Arrival Card service for foreign visitors from Africa and Thailand.
The fire led to a temporary shutdown of crucial services such as tax systems, school databases, and real estate registries. Among the affected was the e-Arrival Card system, which was launched in February 2025 and is set to become mandatory for all short-term foreign visitors from the Southwest, including South Africa, from January 2026. The system was offline for a few days but has since been restored to full operation as of September 29.
The government acknowledged that the lack of redundant backup systems contributed to the severity of the outage. This has raised concerns about the vulnerability of South Korea's digital infrastructure. The national cybersecurity alert level was raised due to fears of hackers exploiting the gaps opened by the massive breakdown. Around a hundred systems were severely damaged and repairs are expected to take several weeks.
The fire at the NIRS data center has highlighted the need for robust backup systems to protect South Korea's digital infrastructure. While the e-Arrival Card system has been restored, the government must learn from this incident to prevent future disruptions and ensure the security of its digital services for visitors from all regions.
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